On April 16, Tech Launch Arizona and Startup Tucson held a networking meetup to bring UA faculty and researchers together with local small business entrepreneurs. The event – a kickoff for a new initiative called SBIR Tucson – was held to grow a vibrant startup ecosystem of companies, entrepreneurs and talent in Tucson.

Tech Launch Arizona presented its first Catapult Awards on Monday, March 24, honoring efforts that directly affect the quality of life for people in Tucson, across Arizona and around the world through research, collaboration and innovation – key elements in the University’s land-grant mission.

New Tech Launch Arizona Ambassadors program encourages local commercialization activities with a primary focus on making staying in Tucson the top choice for UA graduates wishing to pursue career and entrepreneurial opportunities.

The UA has launched a new Defense and Security Research Institute that aims to expand the University's strengths in those areas while helping the UA to reach its goal of doubling research expenditures from $600 million to $1.2 billion by 2023. The interdisciplinary institute will help pave the way for new, mutually beneficial partnerships between the UA and industry, which is one of the key goals of the University's Never Settle plan.

Professor Bill McCallum has started a new company dedicated to transforming mathematics education across the U.S.

A bacterial disease called early mortality syndrome is killing off the stocks of the world’s largest shrimp producers. At the University of Arizona, Professor Don Lightner has a solution for detecting the bacteria in the stocks, allowing infected populations to be separated from healthy ones.

The UA's Tech Launch Arizona has facilitated the licensing of a medication management software and business model that was developed by College of Pharmacy faculty and researchers.

"When I first began synthesizing green, biodegradable surfactants for my PhD at the University of Arizona, I would never have guessed that it would evolve into patented technology."

Through this new process, the UA gives industrial sponsors greater certainty and significantly minimizes intellectual property (IP) negotiations by offering the opportunity to choose between several defined options for licensing IP generated under sponsored research.

The Office of University Research Parks, which directs the UA Tech Park, UA Bio Park and the Arizona Center for Innovation has changed its name to Tech Parks Arizona.